All British tourists booked on big tour operator holidays in Tunisia have been helped on to flights back to the UK, the Foreign Office has confirmed.

A number "in the low hundreds" remain who are either independent travellers or customers of small travel companies.

Some of the 1,000 expats known to be living in Tunisia have also left, it said, following the fall of the country's president amid mass protests.

A "rapid deployment team" is due to travel to the capital Tunis on Sunday.

The consular officials were dispatched by the Foreign Office to assist embassy staff.

'Rapidly changing'

The Foreign Office has advised against all non-essential travel to Tunisia, and outbound flights have been cancelled.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said British people currently in Tunisia without a pressing need to be there should leave.

"Airspace is currently open over Tunisia, but this situation is moving rapidly and may change," he said.

"We urge any British nationals in Tunisia to observe the curfews in place and to stay indoors wherever possible."

There have been weeks of demonstrations in Tunisia over corruption, unemployment and high food prices.

The country's president, Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, was forced from power on Friday and fled the country for Saudi Arabia.

Thomson and First Choice organised seven repatriation flights on Saturday - four to Manchester, one to Glasgow, one to Birmingham, one to Gatwick and one to East Midlands.

Both travel companies have now completed the repatriation of their package holiday customers, they said.

A Monarch plane left the UK on Sunday morning for Tunis and will pick up about 200 people. It is due to arrive back at Gatwick Airport after 1300 GMT.

British Airways is to make a decision later on whether it will operate flights to bring back stranded passengers from Tunis.

Thomas Cook, Thomson and First Choice have all cancelled flights to Tunisia on Sunday, and Thomson and First Choice have also cancelled those on Wednesday.

All departures beyond these dates are currently still going ahead, but customers are advised to monitor tour operators' websites in the coming days.

Tourists returning to UK airports have described scenes of violence in the north African country amid a state of emergency.

After landing at Birmingham Airport on Saturday, Johnny Davis, 23, a student at Birmingham University, said: "On Thursday evening there was a rolling protest with cars and about 500 people hanging out and beeping the horns.

"But last night it seemed to escalate and we heard what we think was gunfire throughout the city and that was going on all the way through to the early hours of the morning.

"When we woke up this morning we were told a state of emergency had been called and a curfew put in place and our airline recommended we leave."

John Plummer, 37, from Norwich, was on holiday with his wife and two daughters in Skanes, between Sousse and Monastir.

He saw smoke coming from buildings and a petrol station that had been looted.